i approve this message this is a special one-hour edition of "world news." tonight, the final sprint, the final day of the presidential campaign. the race across the swing states, the pounding pavement hours to go. >> we'll win this election. >> taking back america. >> and we have a new abc news poll, who is ahead tonight? aftershock, thousands in the storm zone trying to stay warm and no power, no heat. even the marines are flying in to help. as a blustery new storm is barreling toward the already battered community. and how will the damage from the superstorm and threat of a new storm change this election? tonight, as americans get ready to vote our abc news political team out in force here and across the battleground states. as "world news" begins tonight.

and good evening from our election headquarters in times square, the crossroads of the world and take a look. because this map will be lighting up soon with the results of "your voice, your vote" as it comes in, the voting begins just hours from now. in this room our powerhouse abc news political team will be at their posts for a night of drama and surprises as america gets ready to elect a president. and right now we have a brand-new abc news/"washington post" poll which shows a late game surge for president obama. polling ahead by three points. will it put him over the top or does governor romney have another move? let's begin with white house

correspondent jake tapper leading us off from iowa. he's there traveling with the president. jake? >> reporter: good evening, diane. president obama accompanied by his top aides and bruce springsteen hopscotched across battleground states today. the key ones that his campaign feels will deliver him a re-election. they are wisconsin, iowa and ohio where the president's campaign began. slightly ahead in our abc news/washington post national tracking poll, president obama is ending his very last day of campaigning having enlisted the help of celebrity musician friends. >> that's not a bad way to bring it home, with the boss. >> reporter: the day began with springsteen's obama 2012 campaign song. ♪ let's vote for the man who got osama forward away we go ♪ >> reporter: even though that was interrupted by an acknowledgement of liberal and progressive anxiety.

. >> the first debate really freaked me out. all right. ♪ but then romney got schooled twice by obama then smiling joe biden brought the drama ♪ >> reporter: the president's pitch, that he is the same idealist he ran as four years ago. >> you've seen the scars on me to prove it. you've seen the gray hair on my head to show what it means to fight for change. >> reporter: here's what the president looked like four years ago, the gravity and intensitit taking its toll. jamming to stevie wonder. or to jay-z this afternoon. the hip-hop star replaced a curse word in one of his songs with the name of the president's opponent. ♪ >> reporter: his throat is rough and the tea he drinks on air force one not much of a balm.

those hoping for a respite watching monday night football, i have to warn them both president obama and mitt romney taped spots with espn's chris berman, so be forewarned. >> even there, thanks so much, jake. but it's hard to imagine the adrenaline it takes r these o men to keep up this whirlwind pace. take a look. in the past three days president obama has stopped to rally the crowds in 11 cities across seven states. governor romney racing to cram in 13 states in seven states there, 13 cities in those seven states so let's go to abc's david muir who has been racing across the country with him in the states that could decide it. ohio. david? >> reporter: no big surprise there, diane, where you find us tonight, right here in columbus, ohio. take a look here to give you an idea where we are inside a hangar at the airport packed with romney fans on the eve of the election. these voters know how high the

stakes are here in the buckeye state. on the eve of election a rare quiet moment between mitt romney and his longest running mate, his wife. captured by mitt's body man as they call him on the campaign before they greeted a crowd of thousands in virginia. >> are we going to be neighbors soon? [ cheers ] >> reporter: then the crowd with its own election eve countdown. the frenetic push to the finish. romney starting in florida then virginia tonight here in ohio. but in these final days romney made it clear the states they need. >> the battleground of the battlegrounds. >> is ohio going to do it for us? >> all: yes. >> reporter: this image of romney on the campaign plane today a senior adviser telling us he wouldn't call romney nostalgic but instead describing him as eager, not nervous, eager. ann romney in these final days walking to the back of the plane acknowledging it has been quite a journey. >> it's been long.

>> reporter: mrs. romney is her husband's most powerful weapon getting choked up by the size of the crowds in colorado. >> that was quite a welcome. that is amazing to walk in and have this kind of emotion come to us. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: in florida today the story of a supporter who had saved pins from george romney's run for president, mitt romney's father, the one-time governor of michigan. now his son on the eve of his own shot at the presidency with one final message. >> tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow. >> reporter: a new tomorrow and then governor romney going on to say what he's been saying in these last few days to the crowd, talk to your poll workers, your family members, even the neighbors across the street that might have an obama sign, he said try to convince them to come over to our side with just afew hours left to the election. >> who knows how many votes will end up deciding the race. i want to bring until co-anchor of "good morning america," anchor of "this week" and my co-anchor tomorrow night. george, you are here. our latest poll shows three

point as head for the president. >> what a difference ten days makes, diane. look at our poll ten days ago coming out of the final debate, mitt romney was the one up three points coming out then. over the course of the last ten days president obama has steadily closed the gap tied for much of that but as you say he is three points ahead and closed the began on handling the economy. i think that's what's most important here. threes been a steady stream of encouraging economic news, good jobs number, consumer confidence, housing market coming off the bottom, stock market is up, add that all up, people are feeling better about how president obama's handling the economy basically tied with mitt romney. >> and, of course, the haging of the storm has also been part of this but the battleground states, what are we seeing right now. >> what we're seeing now is the president is either tied or ahead of all the key battleground states and hurricane sandy had to have helped there as well. the president's job approval is up to 51% and for most of the hurricane, people saw the president doing his job. they basically liked what they saw so as i said you look at those battleground states there,

the president tied or ahead in all the battleground states right now. >> well, we will be springing into action tomorrow as the voting begins and, george, i will see you very soon. >> you will. >> of course on "good morning america," as well. you know, i know, how many people have turned out to vote early. take a look at this, americans lining up to vote early. a mom with an infant in a car seat. her young son taking it all in bowling green, ohio and other americans ready to spend hours in georgia, arkansas, illinois and across this country and unprecedented number of americans voting early so what do these early results show? abc's jonathan karl on that. >> reporter: you think election day is tomorrow? think again. we have already been seeing long lines at voting places for weeks. 46 million americans are expected to vote before polls open tomorrow, more than one out of every three voters, the most early voting ever. this family waited for eight

hours to vote in miami. >> you know, this is how we express our voice and this is what makes america the greatest country in the world. >> reporter: with so many states offering early voting, it's no longer election day. it's election month. in the latest abc news/"washington post" poll, obama had a narrow three-point lead among those who voted early. that's a much smaller lead than four years ago when he beat mccain among early voters by 18 points. local officials at this polling place in miami were so overwhelmed by long lines, they temporarily locked the doors triggering chaos outside. >> let us vote. let us vote. >> reporter: doors re-opened after about an hour, and in some counties, democrats successfully sued to extend early voting hours, and well over half of all expected voters in florida have already voted. two of the states we'll look at closest in terms of the early vote, diane, are florida, which we just talked about and nevada. both of these states well over half of voters have already

voted and we can even tell you a little about how they have voted or at least who has voted. in both of these states democrats have outnumbered republicans in the early vote, diane, and that is what put obama over the top last time around. but i've got to tell you also that the democrats have a smaller advantage, a significantly smaller advantage than they had four years ago pointing to a much closer night tomorrow. >> close night, thank you, jon. we'll have more on this close election in a moment. but we want to tell you now what happened today in that other big story we have been following, hurricane sandy. and the aftermath. tonight, tens of thousands of families still facing the dark and the freezing cold and this picture says so much. pray hard. all day our abc family has been teaming up for a special day of giving for the families who need it more than ever as they brace now for another storm coming in. it is the new worry, a wet and windy nor'easter gathering strength over the gulf right now

and expected to march up the coast, and abc's linsey davis as that. >> reporter: new york city kids went back to school today. most big apple subways up and running. and those gas lines, still long, but getting shorter, as the new supply makes its way to the battered storm zone. but in the hard-hit rockaways neighborhood, jane marino is at her breaking point. >> give us the services that everybody needs out here. we're desperate. >> reporter: after the storm, jane stayed behind with her elderly parents -- the ambulance for her mother couldn't make it through the sand-clogged streets. >> i've resorted to putting on the gas jets on the stove. >> reporter: they are among the 1.4 million people still without power in the wake of hurricane sandy -- 115,000 of them right here in new york city. with temperatures expected to dip below freezing tonight, hypothermia is a real threat especially for the elderly and young children. sandy's death toll is at 106 people. 40 in new york city alone. and the cold brings fresh fear.

>> this evening nypd patrol officers will use loudspeakers to urge people to go where they can be warm. >> reporter: most shelters still have beds available but some rockaway residents like katie richardson who i first met last week aren't interested. >> it's our home. it's our home. would you leave your place and you don't know if they're going to loot? >> reporter: the city estimates about 10,000 people in battered buildings and homes will need emergency temporary housing, but for the marinos in the rockaways, the concern is more immediate. they can hardly sleep. terrified about the nor'easter in the forecast for wednesday. >> i just pray that everything will be all right. what else can we do? >> reporter: residents here say roughly half of the people on the block are still staying here. some with generators but many enduring the dark nights without power. one big concern about the nor'easter and there are many is the wind and what it will do to

these huge mounds of sand. all this sand here makes the roads virtually impassable. diane? >> all right, linsey davis reporting and as we said, the entire abc family is teaming up for a day of giving to help the victims of hurricane sandy. we will keep it up through the night and the phones have been ringing off the hook so far. all of you have donated more than $12 million. and it's not too late to do so. you can call in right now. 1-800-help-now or go to our special website at abc.com. and still ahead on "world news," an election day mystery threatening billboards, strange letters. voters who say they're being targeted. why the fbi is investigating tonight and that's next. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy.

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citizen and then to get this letter, it's a little insulting. >> reporter: horn was one of dozens of republicans in 28 counties in florida who got this letter in the mail questioning whether they were citizens. sharon calvert got one too. >> it says that there's a question on you eligibility to vote. and if you don't provide certain information and documentation within 15 days you'll be thrown off the rolls. >> reporter: the letter, which claimed to be from county election officials, warned that voter fraud is a felony. the fbi has launched a voter intimidation investigation into a political dirty trick. >> take it down now. >> reporter: in ohio and wisconsin billboards like these started popping up mainly in minority communities, warning voter fraud is a felony. >> this billboard is nothing but a symbol of pure, unadulterated voter suppression to target an african-american community. >> reporter: after the controversy exploded, the billboards came down but tension remains. but as the election approaches the most likely legal battles will involve access to the polls.

>> let people vote. >> reporter: on sunday this crowd became outrages when the polls were temporarily closed in palm beach after they stood in line for hours. expect lawyers to sue to keep the polls open if there overwhelming turnout. diane, thousands of lawyers will fan out across the country looking for any hint of problem. if this is close, there will be a fight for every vote. >> i know you'll be stand di sentri tomorrow night. the hatfields and mccoys, one neighborhood, one big political divide. what they're doing to try to keep the peace tonight. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed

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[ male announcer ] now learn about a program committed to you and copay assistance that can reduce monthly orencia out-of-pocket drug cost to $5. if you're not satisfied after 6 months, you get that money back. call 1-800-orencia. throughout this campaign, we've heard about swing states, even swing counties, but what about swing next-door neighbors? we found a community mclean, virginia, facing off like a lot of families and abc's amy robach has one extraordinary street. >> reporter: wrightson drive is a street where neighbors share hugs, bake cookies for one another and have friendly conversations. but they are sharply divided on one major issue, who to vote for. on one side of the street there's sandra buckman for

romney and kathleen delano for obama. on the other, it's lucas gallegos for romney and stephanie niedringhaus for obama. it all started here when stephanie decided to put up her barack obama signs supporting the president. well, her neighbor then countered, putting up signs of their own, supporting mney/ryan starting a bit of a sign war here in this neighborhood, and yet, remarkably all the neighbors here remain friendly. >> we all have the same common values, we want a safe country, we want to work. >> reporter: but they don't see eye to eye on how to get there. >> we need to be able to disagree about positions and vote for whomever we want to and not take it personally. >> but that's why i really get mad with obama. he didn't cross the aisle. >> reporter: these neighbors only have to live next door to one another, what happens when the division occurs inside the home? >> i think they need to see the humanity in the other and focus on that instead of politics. >> reporter: should they start

baking cookies for each other. >> eye evangelize with cook is. >> reporter: food for thought. amy robach, abc news, mclean, virginia. coming up next, who is going to win this presidential race? can the touchdown pass tell you? can these eyebrows? can something sold in this 7-eleven? be sure to watch for the answer next. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away

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look, the reason i'm m in this race is there are people that are really hurttoing tody in this country. and we face this deficit -- could crush the future generations. and republicans and democrats both love america but we need to have leadership -- leadership in washington that will actually bring people together and gethe job done and could not care less if it's a republican or a democrat. i've done it before, i'll do it again. i'm mitt romney, and i approve thimessage.

as the clock ticks down on this election day, we hear so many predictions about who will win. some of them from polls, but others from some pretty strange things with remarkably accurate success rates. here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: when the washington redskins win the last big game before a presidential election it's usually good news for the incumbent. well, the redskins lost. ergo romney will win tomorrow. not so fast, sports fans! more often than not, when the national league team wins the world series, the democrats win, too. the giants swept. ergo, obama wins. the quirky indicators are all over the map. for instance, the taller of the two candidates tends to win.

obama, at 6'1", is an inch shorter than romney. ever since michael dukakis, people have also noticed something called the eyebrow index -- the guy with the neatest brows tends to win. in this case, obama. at abc, we have "your voice, your vote." here at 7-eleven, there's "your coffee, your decision." red for romney or blue for obama. here in denver and across the country apparently obama is comfortably ahead. according to one study voters can correctly predict the winner 81% of the time even if they strongly support the other guy, which chia candidate is more popular? which candidate's cookies more appetizing? doesn't matter. chances are you probably already know who will win. >> thanks for watching. for some of you we'll say good night. though for others, stay with us for more of our one-hour broadcast, election 2012, our

powerhouse team standing by to tell you surprising x factors they think could decide this race. it's coming up right after a short break. for those of you leaving us, good night.

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